“Yes” and “no” are among the first words that we learn as children, no matter what tongue we speak. The easiest way to express consent or lack of it, they are an entire statement in themselves. I mean it really doesn’t get more explicit than a clear “yes” or “no,” right? Well, we don’t know about “yes” but the word “no” when uttered by a woman in India means a lot of things, but almost never what it is intended to express.
All thanks to patriarchy, men in India have been hard-wired to not take “no” for an answer, especially from women. And thus a lot of the times when they hear a women’s ‘no’, what they actually hear is “but push me a little more, intimidate me,” “harass me,” “threaten me,” “rape me,” “kill me.” Contest it if you must but deep down you know it is true. Something similar happened to Nikita Tomar, who was recently shot dead in broad daylight after resisting a classmate’s marriage proposal.
As per media reports, Nikita was shot to death right outside her college in Faridabad’s Ballabhgarh on Monday afternoon. The incident has been recorded on a CCTV camera and shows her classmate Tauseef Ahmad along with an accomplice trying to abduct her and then shooting her after failing to get her in the car.
Blood-curdling daylight murder of college student identified as Nikita Tomar in Delhi suburb Faridabad (Haryana) caught on CCTV as she emerges from college after writing exam. Assailant identified as Taufeeq arrested, driver of car still absconding. https://t.co/8Yq4CWHsoi pic.twitter.com/HvBVrRgpGy
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) October 27, 2020
His accomplice has now been identified as Rehan and the two have already been arrested. It has been revealed during the investigation that Nikita and her family had also filed a molestation case against Tauseef who allegedly kept pushing her to change her religion and marry him. It has also been revealed that the accused has strong political ties and happens to be a cousin of sitting Congress MLA Chaudhary Aftab Ahmed from Nuh (Mewat) constituency of Haryana. His political ties seem to be the reason why he might have felt so comfortable shooting a girl in broad daylight.
In fact, Tauseef has allegedly been harassing Nikita for a couple of years now and her brother has revealed in interaction with India Today that they also tried getting him punished back in 2018. “We registered a case against the accused in 2018. He had harassed my sister for marriage and kidnapped her so we had filed an FIR against him. Police had arrested him the same day and after talks in a panchayat, the matter was settled,” he shared.
Incidentally, Tauseef also confessed to the crime during the investigation and had told the police that he killed the girl because she was going to marry someone else. Besides that, he also said that revenge was also a motivation behind the act. “I couldn’t study medicine because I was arrested. And hence I took revenge,” he shared during the investigation.
The netizens are shaken by the incident and have been expressing their disbelief on Twitter. Here’s what they have to say.
If Tauseef has been arrested for the same case in the past as well then it clearly shows that he has been pestering the girl for easily two years now. That she has been dodging his advances appears clear too. And the fact that he could not take “no” for an answer happens to be the clearest of them all. Clearly saying “no” is a luxury that not every woman can afford in India.
Featured Image: Twitter
